The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-01-12
TWO MAINE STORIES.


| While steaming down the ST. Croix
river with Capt. Wooster on the swift
tug William Kinds the captain told me
two yarns that are well worth repeating.
says writer in the Lewiston (Me.)
journal. We we're passing the town Of
Perry. A young lady of 16 wears.
another captains daughter. took the
wheel and managed it like an ancient
mariner, and the captain was at liberty
to suck has cigar and tell his stories.
"A minister who used to live here in
the town of Perry" said he, was once
| visited by another minister on Sun
| day; so he killed two ducks and ordered
his hired girl to dress and cook them
for dinner. The girl did as she was
| told, but while the ducks were ROASTING
her beau came and made her a calf
Being hungry, and tempted by the smell
of the sizzling fowl, he seized one of the
ducks and ate it.
The girl was driven to her wits
ends by this unlucky incident She was
rather glad her beau had such nice
dinner, but despaired at finding an ex-
cuse to tell the minister-let's call him
Mr.. Brownie account for the MISSING
duck. When Minister Brown came
home to dinner with Visiting Minister
Jones the girl had hit upon a scheme.
She asked her employer to 90 out to the
grindstone which stood in the ward and
sharpen the carving-knife. He went at
work On the knife at once, being hungry
for those ducks. The girl stole upstairs
and asked the visiting minister to look
out of the window.
".See there?' said she. i came up
to give you warning. You little know
the danger you're in. The man l work
for is crazy, and he is sharpening that
knife to cut your throatr
The girl succeeded in thoroughly
alarming the visitor. and he hastily put
on his hat and ran as fast as his LEGS
could take him.
when he had run several rods the
girl called her master and asked him
what kind of man he had brought
home to dinner. The minister inquired
why she asked, when, pointing to the
flying brother, the girl exclaimed:
There he goes, running away with one
of your ducks?' "
The captains other story concerned
the notorious Elder Adams, who con-
Quoted the bewildered Maine colonists
to Palestine and abandoned them in
poverty there. When Elder Adams was
preaching his crusade he had to con-
tend against many scoffers and doubters.
One of them was a Jonesport man
named Tom Crowley.
"At one of Elder Adams meetings in
Jonesport," quoth the captain, Tom
Crowley arose and said he had dreamed
a dream which he would like to tell.
The elder told him to go ahead, and
Tom proceeded. He said ne dreamed
the devil had got possession of him and
would not let him go unless he (Tom)
would name three things he could not
do. So he first asked the devil to part
the Atlantic ocean so an army could
march across, as the Israelites did, and
the devil easily did it. Then Tom
asked him to tell him where wreck lay
in which Tom once was cast away, and
the devil told him to a dot AS last
resort, said Tom, 4 dreamed l asked
the devil to produce bigger liar than
Elder Adams, but the devil acknowl- |
edged he could not do 1t and gave me
up
Toms dream produced great sem
sation in the meeting-head her for
that old barnr' exclaimed the captain,
suddenly turning his attention from me
to the girl at the wheel
Ii the rest of Elder Adams hearers
had taken Toms measure of that monu-
mental fraud they would have saved |
themselves vast deal of suffering.